The Trio
by Good Ninja
Summary: A strange man, three strangers, and an experiment.
1. Chapter 1

Drake slammed into the wall hard enough to leave a cracked dent in the shape of a human back and a portion of arms, then dropped to the ground against said wall, looking up dazedly. His clothes were worn, his black hair, usually so slick and messy, hanging around his face with sweat. A large shadow of a figure loomed over him, looking down. After a moment he pressed one hand into the ground and got up with a stagger in his step, pulling up his hands in a futile gesture of defiance.  
He was 'rewarded' with a very large scaly hand crushing him into the wall, pinning him within his own indentation and shoving him deeper. Stone scraped apart his clothing and dug into his skin painfully, but he refused to yell. He stared into the face behind the hand with a steely, wild expression, grinning openly through the pain.  
"Is that all… you've got?" He spat spittle and blood onto the hand. The hand opened, claws jutting out from the fingertips, digging into the wall around him and grasping him by the torso along with a sparse amount of concrete. Drake was tossed overhead, landing with a bounce and a thud on the cold metallic floor, pieces of the wall pelting him. After the light faded from his eyes from the pain, he realized he had landed next to Frost and Kyra, laying unconscious on the floor. Thuds resounded the ground as his opponent stomped over to him, looming overhead with a sneer.  
Bowser. Koopa-king, biggest, meanest turtle-dragon alive. They'd underestimated him.  
His vision began to fail. Dimly Drake realized he was passing out. He wondered, as the lights faded from his view, how exactly he had gotten into this situation..

It had all began three days ago when he had signed up for some silly experiment. New virtual reality needed testing, limited people allowed. He hadn't signed up for a damn thing- he just got a letter in the mail saying "Hey! You've been accepted!" and, having nothing better to do in his 'life' at the time, went with it.   
The letter had taken him to a building in the middle of town, but out of the way- behind a business complex, almost shack-like in its smallness. There had been stairs, and basements, and there was an extremely comfortable waiting room with blue velvet couches. He had been all alone in that room for some time, which was odd, now that he reflected back on it…

After an hour by his game boy advance clock, a _very_ lovely young lady with purple hair in an obviously unneeded nurse getup had approached him and told him the superior would see him. She had spoken with a Russian accent, but looked very British for some reason to him. Maybe it was the face, the freckles, the hair, the eyes. Or maybe he had dated one too many British girls. He went in to see the 'superior'.  
Superior? Bit of an odd name for some koony doctor. But he went with it. Not like there was anything else he was going to do. Besides, maybe he could get the girl- Dayle, he learned her name was, to give him her phone number.  
The "Superior" didn't looked like anyone especially fancy. He was actually rather young- probably younger then himself, Drake had thought. Dirty blonde hair, blue-green eyes, and a very strange goatee that looked white when Drake looked at it from odd angles. Not that he went to lengths to, but he noticed it.

Mr. C, as the "Superior" preferred to be called, informed Drake he was going to undergo a few exams- just to make sure he was the proper person for the testing. After all, a bad reaction, an improper mental alignment, and a bunch of other terms Drake pretended to not understand while coming to the realization the Superior was a crackpot, could cause problems.  
Dayle gave him a rather thorough physical exam. Over six feet tall, he provided some difficulty for the shorter- 5'9 at best, girl, but did his best to comply. He was well toned with muscular mass thanks to his "lifestyle." His black hair was all natural- but he wore green contacts. He was in perfect health- almost too perfect, if not for that odd sniffle he had gotten last week.  
He had used the time to check out Dayle, of course. Short purple hair, vivid green eyes, and a freckled grin, all which were sent away by the Superior all too soon. He was so close to getting her number, too.  
He answered the questions the Superior imposed. They were short, simple, and eccentric. Such examples included his favorite cheese, his mother's maiden name, whether he though a zombie could defeat a caveman with a large club. Drake was convinced "Mr. C" stood for "Mister Crackpot" at this point. He was far from an idiot, and he knew when he was being hoodwinked into or out of something when he was. Still, it was more fun then playing Pokemon on his game boy. Mr. C lead Drake back to the velvet blue couch waiting room and asked him to stay there for a short while.  
Drake did so, and while doing so discovered the couches unfolded into beds. He wasn't sure why they did or why a crackpot would need blue velvet unfolding couch-beds, but he must have some reason as to why he was interested in Drake, and why he'd have such an assistant like Dayle running around with him.

He wasn't used to having to ponder such things, but it entertained him until Mr. C came back with the 'results'. He was good to go, no surprise there, and was led straight into a purely white room. He'd been tied to the chair, gotten comfortable, and left alone. After a few minutes, the light went out and a loud hum had filled the room.

A second later, he had been standing in the blue velvet waiting room again, only two other people were there with him- Frost and Kyra, and with only two doors out. Frost was spikey-haired, platinum blonde, new-age clothing and pretty-boyish. Way too calm for his own good, but he had wit, and Drake liked that. Kyra was hot, he had thought, what with her yellow-blonde hair and college-girl looks. He rather liked her, she had been full of fire.

A disembodied voice checked in on them and informed them this was the waiting room for all worlds- rather dramatic stuff for a Waiting Screen, Drake had thought. It -was- rather real. He was real, Kyra was real, Frost was real. He -had- wondered where exactly the other two had come from, he had been completely alone.. But then the Superior, Mr. C, had spoken, and so he listened to what the 'crackpot' had to say.  
Basic stuff- This is a fake reality, this is the waiting room, get comfy, your physical needs are all being taken care of but you should definitely obey the mental urges to eat, sleep. Drake had wondered how long they were going to be here, exactly. He got his answer when Mr. C informed them that they would be spending quite a while in virtual reality, but not to worry, their minds processed information faster then they'd normally perceive reality, so as long as he wasn't slowing things down to talk to them, days in the virtual world could be only one day in the real one.

Drake knew the crackpot was lying by this point, but he refrained from telling the others. No need to cause undue worry. Just because he was an ass didn't mean he wanted to be an ass for the wrong reasons.

Then the Superior had told them just what he had been expecting to hear- there were 'problems.', but not to worry about them. Typical set up for a bigger problem later on. Start with small things, remind them there are issues, and when a big mother-fucking error comes along, they won't place the blame on you, even if you caused the damn problem.

They had spent a few hours sitting around talking when the voice had returned. They had their first test run to go through- and that there were a few problems with it, but nothing too severe. All they'd need to go is step through the door he had made glow. So they did.  
And they'd ended up in the god damn Mushroom Kingdom. In the beginning of a small dungeon, actually. Kyra figured they should go through it like a game, so they did. They, of course, did not expect the pain to be as real as it was, but they managed. They even reached Bowser. But, that, obviously, is where they fell..


	2. Chapter 2

Frost awoke with a start, staring out at the blaring light in his eyes. It glared angrily like it hated him, and he muttered softly at it. As his vision cleared, he tried to move, only to realize he was pinned quite neatly to a grey metal table pointed diagonally. The room was dark except for the light, but rather expansive. He could hear talking in the background.  
_Classic bad guy. Then again, Bowser is -the- classic villain.. Where's Kyra and Frost?_

Frost turned his head to the sides. Kyra was tied to a similar table to his left, Drake to his right. Drake's eyes were opened and he was staring at the ceiling with a slight scowl. No fear, just minor disappointment.

He heard gasping and turned his head to the left. Kyra had awoken and was tugging at the metal bonds holding her down. She gritted her teeth and looked over at him. He grinned slightly back at her, and she gave him a weird expression and slumped in the metal table, looking at the floor.  
"We're screwed, aren't we?" She said quietly.

Frost tensed all his muscles and pushed against the metal bars- but they did not bend even a bit. He was surprised to a great degree- he was far stronger then a normal human, but it seemed that in this world his strength was diminished. That, or the metal had been tempered for some reason to deal with ultra-strong foes. He scowled and sighed.  
"Stop trying." Drake said with amusement. "We're quite stuck."  
"Do you have a better idea, idiot?" Kyra snapped at him.  
"Of course. Wait for Bowser to come back and tell us what he wants from us. " Drake replied.  
"Some plan."  
"Only plan."  
Frost idly wondered why the two bickered like they did. Flirting, maybe.

A door boomed open in the distance. A terrible figure filled it, the massive doors only letting a little light through over his tremendous bulk. He growled low and stomped through the room towards him. He lacked subtlety or any real skill in intimidation- but his bulk and his bluntness of his ferocity was certainly enough to do his work for him.

Bowser stopped before the three measly peasants who had tried to attack him. They hadn't even known what they were doing. The girl was pathetic. The white-haired one, not so much. He moved unusually fast and strong for a human. But the tall one had given him the most trouble, refusing to go down. He sneered and exhaled smoke onto the three, causing them to cough.  
"I'm going to make this short and simple. I don't really care why you're in my fortress or why you felt suicidal enough to assault me without weapons or factors. I do intend to make use of you." He grinned. "You're going to be doing me a little favor."  
Frost laughed. "Why us?"  
"Because you are suicidal and willing to do insane things. Your attack on me proved this."  
Kyra scoffed. "Like we'd help you."  
"Oh, you would, if it were to save your own hides." This caused the three to pause.  
"You want us alive," Frost began before being cut off.  
"Long enough to offer you a deal.." He grinned and leaned back on his tail, folding his arms. "Magikoopa!" He barked. An old figure with giant, thick classes and blue robes shuffled up to beside Bowser.  
"Yes, my liege?"  
"Your wand." Bowser rumbled. The old creature reached within his robe pockets and pulled out a glowing yellow stick with a red jewel imbedded in one end. Bowser took it and held it at the three, who cringed slightly. "I've often seen that holding something captive tends to make people do what I want them to. In this case…" He chuckled darkly. He held the wand back as if he were going to throw it, then thrust it out at them. "Kalawan!"  
Glowing figures burst out of the red jewel, blinding the trio. Their forms became immersed in the light, remaining glowing as the wand's energies faded. Then that light, too, faded, and they were able to see just what had occurred.  
Where Kyra had been, there now was a red-colored venus-fly trap like.. Thing. A piranha plant. Long leaves took the place of arms, strange roots took the place of legs, and the length of the body was a stem leading up to a giant, red-polka-dot-spotted featureless green bulb with thick green lips. She opened her mouth for a moment, rows of teeth inside. "…this is.. Different.."

Drake had been turned into what looked like a teenage version of Bowser. While he kept many of his features, his hair was red and scruffy, and his body was forced off the table by the shell that had apparently spontaneously appeared on his back, small spikes digging into the table. He had scales and green skin. "…well, this isn't so bad in comparison to… er.. Frost?"  
Frost was still, apparently, human, for all appearances. But where there had once been pecs, there were now breasts. His facial features had slightened, his stubble vanished. His clothes no longer really fit upon him. He had been turned into a she.  
"..I take it back. This is heaven compared to that!" Drake began laughing, his voice rough and deeper then it had been before. Frost just stared at his/herself, face contorted in humiliated shock. Kyra made a strange noise that sounded like clicking, her 'head' bobbing up and down. She was laughing.  
"SILENCE!" roared Bowser, the force strong enough to snap each out of their awe and laughter to stare at him again. "You have each lost something now. And being that I have possession of the -only- way to return you to your normal selves, it seems you're going to have to do a little something for me." He grinned sharply, chuckling with maniacal glee.  
A long silence followed as the three stared at- or in Kyra's case, sort of turned her head towards, Bowser. The giant koopa stared back at them, his chuckling dying down slowly. After a moment it was gone completely and he stared back. "…well? This is where you ask me what it is I want you to do."

It was Frost who spoke up, ignoring the strange and foreign sound of the voice coming from within the feminine throat. "What is it you want us to do?"  
"I think I already know.." Kyra muttered- or tried to mutter. Apparently her new mouth was unsuited to muttering, as it came out as loud as it would as if she had said it, with a slight clacking noise accompanying it.  
Bowser ignored her and let a hearty, evil laugh burst forth. "You're going to pay a visit to a friend of mine. For many years I've been building an army with which to take the Mushroom Kingdom. But that blasted Mario and his brother Luigi could defeat many of my squadrons with ease. So whenever I need to take a place of importance, I distract him by kidnapping his precious princess. I've done this so many times that as of this moment, the Mushroom Kingdom is surrounded and poised to fall. and they are none the wiser for it. I hold many key positions and assault points.  
The only.. Flaw.. is that Mario. I want him to be distracted- VERY distracted, at the moment of my invasion. So distracted he won't notice or help defend the kingdom. So I want you to.. Dispose.. Of the princess." He paused a moment to let his words sink in.  
"Define dispose." Drake said with unusual casualness, earning looks from Frost and Kyra. He merely shrugged.  
"Kidnap her, but inside her own castle. Do something to her- torture her, rape her, I don't care. Mario will hear of it and will come to save her. At that point I'll invade. He'll think my attack is a cover up for the kidnapping and leave the battle to Luigi and the toads. And once enraged he'll forget all about the kingdom to save his princess."  
"…won't he kill us?" Kyra asked.  
"Oh, he might." Bowser gestured to the magikoopa. "Release them."  
With a _shink_ the binds holding the three released, allowing them to slide to the ground. Frost and Drake rubbed their wrists, while Kyra simply looked at herself, her long stem bending and twisting flexibly.  
"But if you succeed, I'll give you back your normal forms."  
"And we should believe you.. Why?" Frost questioned.  
"Because your only other option is- huh?" Bowser stopped as Drake suddenly leaped up from where he had been, leaping through the air with more speed and power then he should have been able to use. Bowser watched him come towards him, Drake's fist cocking back, scaled muscles and all his weight going into his punch as he swung forward, coming down upon Bowser's heard.  
His fist slammed into Bowser's face.. And didn't so much as twitch him. His knuckles throbbed from the pain, as if he had struck a metal wall, and his weight pulled him down. He fell to the ground, and Bowser merely looked down as Drake landed on his shell, wincing and flipping over, getting to his feet. Only then did Bowser move - with a speed that surprised even Frost- and backhanded Drake. Drake flew backwards, flowing into the table he had been banded to and crushing it under the force of his weight and velocity.  
"Idiot." Bowser growled. "Fool. Just because you're stronger and faster now doesn't make you a god. If the fight before didn't teach you, then I should remind you that contrary to popular belief, letting a plumber defeat you for tactical purposes does not make you incapable of defending yourself against threats." He sneered, then chuckled. "But I like your spirit. You'll do well against Mario if he does try to kill you. So what say you? Shall I kill you here, or will you do my bidding to save your lives?"  
He looked towards Frost and Kyra, who made no move to help Drake as he got up out of the rubble, muttering darkly to himself. _What the hell is this virtual reality? Why does that blasted crackpot want us to go through this?_  
Frost's expression was unreadable, a cross between distaste and ponderance. After a moment she spat to the side and folded her arms, but indicated no further resistance. Kyra had no face, but it was Kyra who glided forward on her roots. "We'll do it."

Bowser roared with approval. "Excellent.."


	3. Chapter 3

Drake punched a hole straight through a wall of stone and brick, leaving a brightly lit passage covered by elegant tapestries covered with rubble. He pulled his thick and scaly hand back, making a muscle as he turned to Frost and Kyra. Frost was sort of carrying Kyra, who's roots were entwined around Frost's middle. It was like piggy-backing, except given that Kyra was a plant, it.. Didn't quite work.

Kyra made a clicking noise. "Not bad. Kind of noisy, though. At least no one's getting hurt."  
"Not yet, anyways." Frost muttered under her breath. She was lightly sweating under the sun. The clouds never seemed to block its rays very effectively in this place. Green hills were everywhere. There was no pollution. Water was always blue and crystal clear and refreshing as heck to swim in. It was a dream world, but it was hell to traverse it on foot.  
"What do you mean?" Kyra clicked. Despite the long travel, the three hadn't spoken much of the actual mission itself. They'd mostly exchanged stories and gotten to know one another. Kyra was a gamer-techie chick who was a "hacker". Drake had been at the end of his ropes when Mr. C had called for them. Frost.. didn't say so much about herself, other then that she was a fighter of some sort. Who was very angry about the loss of her affiliation with the male gender.  
"Peach is probably going to be at least rough-housed a bit." Frost said quietly as Drake stepped through the hole he had made, looking around. In his koopa-dragon like form, he was almost a mini-Bowser, except more humanoid and upright and… well, Drake. He was the only one who didn't seem to mind the transformation.  
"A bit?" Drake said, and chuckled. "I'm going to make Mario come running when I get my hands on her.."

On a nearby hill…  
Bowser crouched slightly, looking down at the side of the castle the three were breaking into. Surrounded by a moat, the three had swum across. A ledge let them stand beside the castle; Drake had just punched a hole open for them; the three were talking, and Drake had stepped through the hole. The plant looked down at the girl she was riding upon and they both shrugged, then stepped through.  
A man in a black raincoat quietly walked up beside Bowser, who uttered a growl at his arrival. "Keep down. If you're seen, the alarm will be sounded too quickly."  
"No one is watching." The man responded quietly. He tugged down his hood to reveal dirty blonde hair, green-blue eyes and a white goatee that stood out upon his face. It was the Superior.  
"How do you know?"  
"I know."  
"Humor me, then."  
Mr. C sighed and crouched slightly below the hill's level. "They've gotten in?"  
"Yes. The three have entered now." Bowser growled. "Drake is proving to be a very eager minion. I gave him something as the others left he could use on Peach. He was rather happy to receive said gift."  
"What was it?" Mr. C responded in mute amusement.  
"A little something I and my magi troop cooked up. You didn't.. need Peach, did you?"  
"No. This is just a trial run for me, though I imagine the consequences of what is about to happen are far more important to you."  
Bowser sneered. "Domination of this world and access to the End Pipe is more then fair trade for letting your three 'assassins' live and aid me."  
"I imagine." Mr. C responded quietly. They watched the hole for a moment. The castle was still, but not quiet. Various sounds and tunes and songs came from within, and two Toad guards would soon be stumbling upon the messy hole.  
"So what did you send your agent in for?" Bowser questioned, pressing one heavy claw into the dirt, letting his weight sink it in.  
"She's there to test them, and if need be, save their behinds."  
"Interesting. Will she interfere?"  
"She is loyal."  
"How do you know?"  
"Because she is mine." Mr. C pulled up the hood of his raincoat again, obscuring his face, and turned, walking down and away. Bowser stared back after him for a moment and growled with an irritated expression, pulling his hand out of the dirt, revealing a small, glowing orb. He tapped it lightly, and the face of a magikoopa appeared.  
"Hold positions until I give the word. Has the land invasion begun?"  
"Yes, sir."  
"Are the flying forces ready?"  
"All ten thousand flying koopas ready to go."  
"Good. Couple that with our land invasion and they'll never, ever know what hit them.."

The sky began to cloud over. Somewhere far off, thunder rumbled.

Drake knocked a guard silly with his brawn, backhanded his silly mushroom head to the side. Behind him, Frost was kicking around another while Kyra snapped at the second guard trying to get around at Frost's back, which Kyra vehemently defended, due to that being where -she- was. The Toad jumped back after a particularly venomous snap and into Drake. He paused and looked up with a fearful expression. Drake grabbed his sides with both hands and lifted him over head, chucking him down the hall overhead Frost and Kyra. Frost kicked the Toad she was fighting unconscious.

"You're not a bad fighter," remarked Drake to Frost.  
"Thanks. I'm used to having more strength and speed then this, though."  
"I imagine. Me, on the other hand." Drake flexed a muscle. "Way too easy."  
"If you guys are done bragging yet, we should get moving before more guards arrive to investigate the loud noises you two made fighting them." Kyra clacked angrily.  
"Eesh. What's your problem?" Drake muttered, turning his back and walking down the hallway.  
"You didn't have to beat them up that badly!"  
"Hey, he didn't -look- like he was going to tell us just exactly where the princess was."

"That didn't mean you had to beat them up and ask questions never!"  
Drake turned around to glare at Kyra. "Why not? If I hadn't, they would have called the alarm!"  
"You don't know that! We don't look -that- threatening!"  
"I'm a god damn koopa and you're a god damn plant!"

"Guys, girls.." Frost began.  
"Shut up!" The duo clacked/yelled at the same time. Frost blinked.  
"Wow. I thought that only happened in movies or cartoons." She remarked calmly, raising an eyebrow at Drake. Her middle was tightened by Kyra's grasp substantially, but she didn't pay attention to it. After a moment Drake resumed walking down the hall. "Okay. Look. Guards we need to knock out, but we do need to figure out where the princess is."  
"DUH!" Kyra clacked. "The throne room. No hurt needed. Just find the main room and go up the stairs. Same place in every game."  
"You failed to mention that." Drake commented from over his shoulder.  
"I thought it was obvious. Haven't you two played any of the games?"  
"Er…Not really. Maybe like the first two on the NES. Frost?"  
"I don't play video games." Frost muttered.  
"Weak, man." Drake said.  
"Whatever." Kyra shook her plant-head from side to side. "Main room. In fact, I think that opening right there is it." The three were approaching a doorway without a door that appeared to lead into a much larger room.  
As they stepped through the doorway, they realized just how much larger it was. They were on the first floor of a large lobby-like main room, with doors beside them and across from them. The insides of the huge double-door entrance to the castle was to their right; a red carpet lead from it, up a short flight of stairs to a balcony with golden-plated double doors with "Peach" written in pink letters over it.  
"Gee." Kyra clacked. "I wonder."  
"Shut up." Drake muttered. "Where are all the guards? You'd think there'd be more."  
Frost paused and held up a fist. "SSSH!" The two stopped and looked at her. After a moment she gestured back to the doorway. "In, in!" She slipped back in the doorway. Drake followed and put himself out of sight.  
"What is it?" He muttered.

Frost and Kyra peered over the edge of the doorway. Drake crouched and looked as well. An old Toadstool rushed through a hall and out onto the balcony, pulling open the doors and leaving them open before rushing in. Two armored Toads walked out and grabbed the doors, pulling them back closed.  
"Well." Frost muttered. "That explains where the guards are. Directly protecting the princess."  
"Why not outside, though?" Kyra wondered.  
"Must be something going on." Frost replied.  
"Something like an invasion?" Drake suggested.  
"Ah. Yes. That." Frost hrmphed and slipped out of the hallway, walking towards the stairs. Drake took a running start out of the hallway and leapt through the air, landing on top of the balcony above with a terribly loud THUMP that shook the balcony and caused pieces of it to crack and fall of.  
"Drake!" Kyra and Frost hissed/clacked.  
"Now they KNOW something is out here!" Frost cried in great irritancy, rushing up the stairs.  
Drake brushed himself off as they arrived and shrugged. "So? I was just gonna kick the door in anyways. Now they'll open them to check it out. See?" He gestured at the doors, where sounds of unlocking were coming. Frost gave a terrible glare at Drake and rushed with Kyra to beside one of the doors. Drake himself pressed his spike-shelled back against the wall beside the other, leaving grooved holes in as he dug in.

The doors were pushed open, obscuring the three from view as Toads walked out, holding short spears and swords out, looking around. One of them tentatively called out, 'Who goes there?"  
Drake promptly punched the wall where the door was held. The door's frame, removed from the door, teetered and fell inwards.  
Frost and Kyra only heard a loud WHAM, and scooted out from their side of the door to look. The door had broken into pieces upon the Toads, leaving many of them crushed and unconscious under the door's rubble. Drake grinned and stepped on top of the pile, walking into the throne room. Kyra clacked.  
"That.. Bastard.." She whispered, horror in her voice. Frost, however, while she grimaced, leapt over the pile to assist Drake, who had gotten into a brawl with about fifteen different Toadstools.  
The room was immensely long in length- the red carpet was at least fifty feet- and relatively short in width. Pillars lined both sides of the room along the red carpet, and doors rested on the walls "Between" every set of pillars. The throne in the distance stood above the floor, and a distinctly princess-y figure sat on the throne. However, beyond that was of no interest to the three. Frost tensed as Drake held his own against the Toadstools.  
Kyra leaned in near her ear, whispering. "Jump on their heads!"  
"…what?"  
"Seriously, jump on their heads. Mushrooms are evil versions of toadstools.. But jumping on their head should work just as well on toadstools!"  
Frost had no idea what she was talking about, but leapt into the air regardless. At the least, the initial impact would knock one of them out. As her feet came down upon a Toadstool's head behind Drake, who sent three of them flying away with a strong-armed shove, the Toadstool crumpled under her feet- but the mushroom "Cap" they wore seemed to bounce her back up regardless. Surprised, she landed on the ground instead of pressing her advantage, but then quickly hopped to action.

Drake's strength and Frost's jumping laid out all the toads within half a minute, leaving a mess of bodies around them. Drake stepped out of the mess while Frost panted and looked around her. "This.. is.. fucked.. up." She cursed and kicked a body out of her way, walking after Drake.

The princess gripped the edges of her chair and pulled herself out of it. Blonde hair framed her face and fell back in a curly wave onto her back. A pink dress was her mode of attire, along with a silver crown. She seemed the epitome but not overindulgence of what little girls wanted to be when they grew up.

Her face was twisted in a horrified expression of the scene she had just witnessed, but a jaded sense of familiarity showed in her eyes. When she spoke, the pain in her voice was real, but dull.  
"Who are you three and what are you doing in my castle!" She cried aloud, as if they had not just taken out her guards. Her pose was regal and strong, as if she could somehow command them with words alone.  
Frost faltered for a moment in her step as Peach spoke, but Drake did not, and at a nip from Kyra Frost continued behind him. Drake, however, stopped ten feet away from the princess, who trembled slightly.  
"Are you one of Bowser's many sons? You look like him." She asked.

"Oh, no. Definitely not. We're here to dispose of you, though!" Drake grinned and nodded. Peach opened her mouth as if to speak, and before Frost or Kyra could react to his action, he pulled something out of the shell upon his back- a small black taser-like device. He pressed the button upon it, and it promptly vanished.  
Drake stepped back, looking at where the device had been. Without warning a sudden black circle encased the Princess, as if appearing from the air itself. Frost moved to beside Drake, awestruck by the vivid sight; the black circle swirled rapidly. The princess began to scream, but only for a few seconds, for the black circle suddenly struck her with many bolts of black energy and vanished.  
Instead of falling down, however, the Princess twitched, looked at the three, her face as calm as undisturbed water. She turned, and ran to the side. Frost jerked; Drake seemed to not care. As Frost moved to follow, Drake held out his arm. "She's disposed of. Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."  
"Do you mind explaining what the hell that was and why you didn't tell us?" Frost demanded.  
"If I had, you might have stopped me." Drake smirked.  
"Damn right I might have stopped you. What was it?" Frost demanded again.

"You don't need to know, and I'm sure you'll figure it out."  
Kyra cut in. "Excuse me? We're sposed to work together, here. Tell us what you did."  
"It.. Was just a gift. From Bowser." He shrugged.

Suddenly, a clear, Russian-sounding voice emanated from behind them. "And only the foolish accept gifts from foes they just tried to kill."   
All three whirled around to see who had spoken.

The speaker was clad entirely in dark purple leather, which in itself was covered in Celtic runes in places, and held by slim black belts across the middle, and all down the legs. Her hair was purple as well, and she wore a headband on her forehead under the hair, which fell to her cheeks. From her nose to her shoulders was covered by dark purple cloth that rested half-way on top of inward-bent shoulder pats jutting off her shoulders smoothly. The only visible portion of her face was her eyes and some of her cheeks.

Surprisingly, Drake was the first to speak. "…Dayle!"

"…how did you recognize me?" She sounded genuinely surprised, though in an amused way.

"The accent, mostly. And the hair. And the eyes. And the fact you were the only other person with access to the hologram." Drake listed. Frost and Kyra stared at him (In Kyra's case her head was simply pointed in his direction) as if they'd no clue what he was talking about.  
Dayle laughed out loud. "Hologram? Oh, you mean this reality."  
"Virtual reality." Drake corrected her.

"If you wish to delude yourself so." Dayle chucked wryly. "Your friends haven't met me. I'm sorry; My name is Dayle, and I am the Superior's assistant."

Kyra lunged forward over Frost's shoulder. "She also KILLED my sister!" She screamed as loudly as she could, the clacking noise temporarily vanishing. It caught the other two by surprise; in her plantlike form it was impossible to discern an emotion from her. With her scream, however, she was pulsing a vivid red color, the green pattern of her skin replaced with crimson. Frost was squeezed tightly by the vines, almost choking her. Shock set into Drake's face as he stared at Dayle, and his face hardened.  
"….Kyra?" Dayle remarked in surprise. "I didn't realize that was you under there. Huh." Frost tightened her fists at the condescending tone Dayle took. "It fits you. Faceless, forced to ride on the backs of others.." Frost's knuckles shone white as Kyra seethed in hisses and half-wrenched shrieks.  
"If I wasn't a fucking plant _I'd be ripping your spine out_, **_bitch!_**"****She screamed, some of the red "spots" on her head steaming. Frost glared ahead at Dayle.  
"I'm curious." Dayle continued, walking forward into the midst of the pile of bodies. "How did you find out my name? You've never seen me. No one saw me get rid of your sister."  
"I asked around, bitch." Kyra growled. "Will you two move it and kill this bitch?"  
"My pleasure." growled Drake, cracking his knuckles and walking forward. "Pretty girls I can deal with. Pretty murderers are another thing entirely.."  
Dayle rose her hand. "Please. I'm the Superior's Assistant." Suddenly Drake flew up into the air as if gravity had stopped working for him; he jerked upwards at least ten feet before gravity called again and he came back to the ground, slamming into it and leaving broken rubble everywhere.  
Frost's face twisted in shock and she looked back and forth between Dayle and Drake rapidly. Kyra hissed. "Throw me at her, Frost!" Frost obeyed and grasped Kyra carefully in one hand. Her stem was rather hard and straight as Kyra stretched herself out; throwing her was like a spear.  
Time seemed to slow down as Kyra flew towards Dayle, her green lips parting to reveal those rows of sharp teeth, her leaves stretching out as if to capture the purple-clad woman. Dayle rose her other hand to match the raised hand and moved both arms out to the sides. An invisible sphere rippled through the air from her body, and the bodies of Toads began to suddenly and simply lift off the ground and go flying away from her, their masses colliding with pillars or walls.  
Kyra slowed down despite the force with which she had been thrown. Her velocity shrunk until she was floating in midair.. And then like the Toads she flew backwards, toppling through the air and colliding with Frost, knocking them both to the floor.  
Dayle laughed loudly as one by one the three got up, Drake first and followed by Frost and Kyra. "You didn't honestly think just charging at me was going to work, did you?"  
"How.. did you do that?" groaned Drake, holding his head as he reared back up. "That's not possible.."  
"Oh, you forget. This isn't your reality, remember? What's not possible in your own reality can become easy pickings in another." Dayle laughed again.

Frost growled softly. "This is a virtual reality.. She probably had powers given to her by Mr. C."  
"You're half right and half wrong there." Dayle smirked. "But I'm not going to tell you which." She waited a moment as the three regained their composure, standing beside one another. "Well, come on. Are you going to just let me toss you around?"  
She thrust her hand out and jerked it upwards. Drake and Kyra lunged to the side, leaving Frost to be hit by an invisible force and flipped backwards head over heels, bumping across the floor. Drake charged down behind the pillars as Kyra hissed and ran towards Dayle- very slowly, since she was trying to run on roots.  
Dayle turned her hand towards Drake as he came out from behind a pillar towards her, baring his teeth and emitting a roar before his feet simply stopped touching the ground. He was lifted into the air and pinned there, unable to move by invisible forces. Kyra reached Dayle by this point and lunged at her; Dayle kicked her in the side of her big faceless head with a heel and send her across the floor.  
Frost flipped to her feet and ran towards Dayle, scooping a piece of marble rubble from where Drake had slammed into the floor, leaping into the air above Dayle with it held in both hands. Dayle herself walked over to Drake's bound form and grabbed him by the neck, moving him as if he weighed nothing into Frost's way. Frost was unable to stop herself in midair as Dayle leaped aside.  
Frost plowed into Drake's side, sending Drake back-first to the ground where the two tumbled and flipped over back and forth, coming to a stop with Drake on his belly and Frost beside him on her back, bleeding slightly from her shoulders and legs. Dayle laughed, grinning behind her purple cloth.

At least, she laughed until her arms were suddenly pinned to her sides by sharp green roots that dug into her skin, a low growling coming from over her head. She looked up to see the bulbous head of Kyra's plant form, teeth bared. Dayle chuckled and fell onto her own back, stunning Kyra long enough for her to get free, and planted her heel against Kyra's stem.  
"Stupid fool. Why couldn't you have just stayed out of it?" She muttered. She rose her foot to stomp Kyra when a piece of rubble broke over her head, grey pieces of marble tumbling off her hair and to the ground. She stood still for a moment, emitted a weak ouch, and fell to the floor limply, revealing Frost's form behind her.

Kyra slowly rose from the ground, Frost helping her up and letting her wrap her roots round Frost's middle again to piggyback.  
"Is she dead?" Kyra asked quietly, though her breath was still bated with anger.

"No." Drake said as he got up, stretching out and gesturing at her, wincing and rubbing his side with his free hand. "She's breathing. And you pack a wallop when you jump like that, Frost."  
"Me? Look what your damn scales did to me." Frost gestured at the blood on her shoulders and legs, muttering. "I don't hold it against you, but at least look before complaining about your own bruises." She rolled her eyes.  
"Can we kill her now?" Kyra asked, her voice hard.  
"I don't know what this crap is with you and her killing your sister, but I don't think we should kill her." Frost answered, sighing.

"Definitely not. She's the Superior's assistant. Don't you guys remember?" asked Drake, as he lightly poked the unconscious girl, pushing her away.

"…no, actually, I don't remember any Dayle helping Mr. C." Frost remarked. "Kyra?"  
"Nope. Mr. C was the only guy I saw from when I walked in his clinic till now."  
Drake stared for a moment. "…huh. That's weird." He shrugged. "Guess he knew she was your sister and kept you two from seeing each other. Why didn't Frost see her, though?"  
Frost blanked for a moment, then shrugged. "You got me. You really do."  
Kyra snapped and hissed softly, muttering angrily. "She deserves worse then a crack on the head."  
"What DID she do to your sister anyways?" Drake asked, starting to walk back to the throne. He gestured for them to follow, and they did, though Kyra stared at Dayle for a long time.

"She killed her…" Kyra uttered. "What more do you need to know?"  
"How?"  
"I… don't know how or why it happened, really. The body was never found. When I asked around, I heard Dayle had taken her and she had been used in a ritual of some sort. My sister was dead for all purposes." Kyra muttered.

"Wow. Losing a relative and never getting any sort of closure on it…" Frost murmured. Drake stopped at the throne and sat upon it. Surprisingly the throne was an easy fit for him, and he leaned back.

"Well, that was -some-closure. Not enough for me.. When she wakes up I'm going to want to ask more questions." Kyra muttered.

"I bet." Drake confirmed, looking at the body of Dayle for a moment. "And to think I was going to ask her out… what? Don't give me those looks. I didn't know she was a murderess."

"Right.. " Kyra said. "So what now, anyways? We disposed of the princess.. Or rather, Drake did something to her."  
"Aheh." Drake said, pointing to the side. They looked.

Peach had returned. Only, where once she had worn a pink frilly dress, she was now wearing tight, shining, black leather stretching all over her torso. A steel belt clip on the front and with studs along her waist. The zipper in the front went down to her midriff, exposing ample cleavage, and she wore a tight black rubber skirt that covered black stockings, which themselves went into black leather stiletto boots. Her lips were colored black, as well as her eyelids. Her hair had been given a shine of some sort; no longer was it bound by a crown. Instead, she wore a choker, and her hair fell in a yellow cascade behind her.

"….holy shit." Frost uttered as the princess walked up to them. Wordlessly she slipped into Drake's lap and leaned back against him, leaning up and planting kisses along his neck and lower chin, apparently unharmed by the scaly texture.  
"Drake!" Kyra uttered. Drake laughed nervously and shrugged.

"Allow me to explain," Peach uttered, causing a surprised silence by all of them. "After the first few times Bowser kidnapped me, he decided I should at least serve a purpose to him other then bait. And so he had his Magikoopas hypnotize me and develop an alter-ego; a princess without any inhibitions and complete loyalty to Bowser. This is why even with an improved guard, I could always be kidnapped!" She giggled wickedly and wiggled in Drake's lap, forcing him to shift about uncomfortably. "I'd simply allow him to kidnap me, and he'd awaken me. When Mario drew too close, he'd repress me again, and Peach would be in control again. Oh, you can call -me- Hope." She grinned and stretched back in Drake's lap. "Going to stare much?" She smirked at the three's expressions.

Frost balked for a moment. "Er, sorry.. Hope. I'm just a little.. Surprised. Drake, did you -know- this was going to happen?" Frost glared towards him.  
"Not.. Especially." Drake got out. It was clear Hope was making things uncomfortable for him with her wiggling and writhing; she seemed to be enjoying his reaction, and Drake could really not do much to make her stop, not that he'd want to. "Bowser told me it'd make her more receptive.. But I didn't expect her to become a welcoming party."  
"Mm, don't call me that! I'm just a little Id to Peach's Superego." She grinned. "and I -like- being a bad, bad girl. Do you know how much stress being a princess carries with it? And Mario! Pfft. He never puts out. Always saving the kingdom."

"This is disturbing." Kyra muttered. "You were a freaking icon to me, you know that? Gah!" She shook her plant head.

"I was an icon to a Piranha Plant?" Hope quirked an eyebrow and slid one arm up and around Drake's neck.

"I'm not a Piranha Plant! Bowser made me this way!" Kyra hissed. "I used to dress up as you on Halloween! Damnit!" She cursed in plant-clackings.

"Oh. Oh, well!" Hope grinned slightly. "So what's the plan? Bowser gave big boy here the power to wake me up, so I'd venture a guess something must be going on."  
Kyra clacked angrily over Frost's shoulder, causing Frost to wince and plant her hands over her ears. After a moment her angry clacking stopped and she panted heavily, seething. "This is such a fucking loser game. I'm getting out of here when this is done." She angrily muttered.

"Amen." Frost muttered. "Drake, mind telling your new concubine what the plan is?"  
Hope oohed at the word concubine and mmed, sliding her body back into Drake. "Yes, do tell."  
"Well, you see, er.." Drake bared his teeth in a slight growl. "Oh, cut that out, will you? Yes, you're a tease, stop writhing like that so I can speak." Caught by surprise, Hope raised an eyebrow and smirked, crossing her legs and resting on Drake's lap without motion.

"Better. We were just supposed to do this to you so Mario would be pissed off and… well, actually, I guess he'd attack us.. Son of a bitch. We're just bait. Mario's going to be distracted mauling us to death while Bowser does whatever." The room was silent with the sudden realization.  
Frost groaned out loud and smacked her own forehead. Kyra clacked, "Then what the hell did he send the bitch over here for?"

"She must have been the Superior's assistance to us to let us live." Frost remarked. "And you had us attack her and knock her out. Bloody wonderful." She groaned and leaned on the throne beside Drake.  
"She's a murdering bitch. She's better dead then an ally."  
Hope cut in. "So how do you three intend to deal with Mario? He -is- a hero with many abilities."

"Well, I'd like to know what he's capable of." Frost said. "Kyra?"  
"Well, he's able to jump insanely high.. Probably as high as you, Frost. He can chuck fireballs from his hands, break bricks with his bare hands.."  
"Wait, he can throw fireballs?" Frost questioned, looking up at Kyra.  
Drake answered. "Something like that. They're red, blow things up. He can also become invulnerable."  
"From the stars he gets," added in Hope. "Don't forget he can fly if he has his cape."  
"And his metallic form he gets in later games." Kyra finished.

"Games?" Hope questioned, looking towards the plant girl.

"You wouldn't know anything about it. Then again, you're a serious divergence from the games yourself.. And Bowser was never so hard to beat.. And.. Holy crap, I think I just figured it out." Kyra clacked. Hope, Frost and Drake turned their heads to her, curious.

"He's invading as we speak! Remember what he told us. We're a distraction so Mario isn't on the front lines. Without Mario the invasion will succeed, and Mario, weakened by our distraction of turning his girlfriend into an evil Id and most likely killing us, will be killed by Bowser.. Who all along has been pretending to be weak.."  
"My." Hope said. "You're a regular Sherlock Toads."  
"Thanks… and Shut up." Kyra muttered.

Suddenly a new voice cut through the room. It was strong and carried a heavy Italian accent, booming with the force of strength behind the words.

"**Wonderful of you-a to tell me everything I'd-a need to know.**"   
Everyone turned to look at the figure who stood in the now cleared doorway. His fists were clenched and white-gloved, a red shirt underneath blue overalls. He had a bushy mustache and black hair tucked under a red cap with a bright yellow M. A yellow cape was tucked into the back of his shirt and hung to his knees. He was slightly pudgy and somewhat short, at most a few inches under Frost.  
And he was angry. His muscles were tensed, his teeth were gritted and partly bared, and his eyes were dark underneath his cap's shadow. The pupils seemed to almost be glowing a dark red.

"**But I'm afraid-a I'm going to have to hurt you now. Peach, or whoever you are now.. Get out-a._"_**

And then he was done talking. He lunged forward, within three steps leaping into the air impossibly high, his cape whipping behind him. Hope was the first to move and leaped off Drake's lap, dragging him with her and sending to the two to the ground on their sides.  
Mario's fist pulled back as he cocked it, fire seeping out from within the inside of his fist. Frost and Kyra stared upwards, too slow to react. Mario moved faster then any in the room could have given him credit for. He fell into the throne like a rock fist first, fire exploding from his landing point, blinding all from the meteor-like assault. The throne simply seemed to explode, pieces flying everywhere; Frost and Kyra were sent hurtling through the air.

Frost and Kyra slammed into a pillar and fell to the floor, Kyra's stem taking the brunt of the assault. She groaned but seemed relatively unbothered by it: She had no bones to break and apparently the stem was rather tough.

Hope got up and pulled Drake up to his feet with all her strength. "Get up!" She hissed as she managed to drag him to his knees, slapping him awake. As the smoke began to clear she took notice of the figure rising in the smoke, and dashed away from the scene behind the pillars.  
Mario walked out of the smoke untouched by the flames, his eyes nearly red with rage. Drake rose an arm to protect himself as Mario threw a punch, barely catching it on his elbow and stumping back onto his other foot, pulling himself to fully standing. But then Mario hooked with his other hand and caught him across the chin, knocking his senses and his skull about, and before he could react a brown boot slammed into his chest with such force he flipped backwards and upwards across the room into a pillar, leaving a gigantic dent from his shell in the marble. He slid down to the ground.

Frost leapt into the air. "Hey, Mario! Eat THIS!" She screamed out, kicking out with her foot coming towards Mario's head. Mario tilted his head slightly to look behind him out of the corner of his eye and sneered, grabbing the edge of his cape and spinning around. Frost was caught in the cape and smacked by it. It felt like solid steel despite the flowing, clothy motion of it and she spun around in midair, landing on the ground.

Trying to continue her movement she crouched and spun, her extended foot sweeping the floor and catching Mario's legs, throwing them out from under him. Kyra extended her head off Frost's back and snapped at Mario as he fell, missing him by inches.

Mario planted a hand on the ground as he fell, sweeping himself, the motion pulling him back to his feet with a short, quick hop. Frost jumped right over the feet and stood before him, her eyes thinning to slits. Wordlessly the two began to fight in earnest, exchanging blocks and blows with Frost clearly gaining an advantage due to the distraction Kyra's snapping mouth posed.

But Mario was no fool. A minute into the flurry of blows that neither side was able to land, he clenched his fists even tighter, flame bursting out from them. The next block caused Frost to jump back and yell from the searing pain, and a boot to her torso send her soaring backwards across the ground, landing on her feet and skidding backwards with a bruise across her midsection.

Mario rose both gloved hands, his mouth in a tight frown. He rose those hands and pointed them at Kyra and Frost. Fireballs began to pour out of his hands in rapid fire, bouncing madness, leaving scorch marks all over the floor where they hit and turning the path going to Frost and Kyra into a blackened storm.

Frost leapt backwards, hitting a pillar and leaping off of it. Mario rose his hands to follow, missing most of them. His fireballs slammed into the pillar and broke it apart as they destroyed it at the bottom and bashed it near the top, causing it to topple over. The castle rumbled as Frost landed near Drake, fireballs soaring over her head. Pieces of the ceiling near the pillar began to crack and drop, and water poured into the throne room from the ceiling. It was raining hard, and now the rain poured through the crack. Thunder cracked.

Frost grabbed Drake by the shirt he wore and pulled him up so his shell was facing Mario. The fireballs slammed into the shell with great intensity, causing Drake to awaken and roar. "OW! That STINGS!"  
"Shut up!" Frost and Kyra yelled at the same time. Drake growled angrily as the fireballs stopped and shoved them off of him, turning towards Mario, who had been forced to pause, panting through gritted teeth like an animal.

**"Smart move-a. Using your friends. But I've got-a friends too!" **He put two fingers to his mouth and whistled. **"YOSHI! Now!"**

Drake whirled around as Frost got up to her knees from the shove, Kyra holding her 'head' with a leaf. A green big-snouted, bulb-nosed dinosaur suddenly bounded out from behind a pillar, a saddle on its back and shoes on its feet. So confused was he by the sudden appearance, he was unaware of Mario cracking him across the back of the head until it had been done, tumbling to the ground.

Frost likewise moved too slowly to stop the dinosaur, who opened his mouth. A long, red tongue lashed out longer and faster then she had ever seen anything do before, almost like a giant frog lunging for his meal- her. She tried to duck, and managed to do so barely- but wasn't fast enough to stop the tongue from hitting Kyra. It pulled back, ripping her from Frost's back, and with a sudden extension of the Yoshi's jaw Kyra was gone inside the Yoshi. It burped, tensed, and popped an egg out from behind. An egg easily large enough to be Kyra, and the Yoshi turned to it with a grin.

Frost snapped and roared with rage. The Yoshi only had time to turn its head back to Frost before Frost's leg connected with its long snout, smashing into its head and sending it headfirst into another pillar. It cracked against the marble stone and slid to the floor, a large bump on its head where it had collided with the stone. It was quite unconscious.

Frost seethed at it for a moment and turned back to Mario, who had paused to look at the unconscious Yoshi. His mustache brimmed with rage, but the pause was long enough for Frost to rush over to the egg and deliver a sharp karate chop to it's top. The egg fell in half, revealing a red Yoshi within, blinking and uncurling. "The fuck!" it squealed in Kyra's voice.  
"**The fuck-a indeed."** Mario uttered softly. He rose his hand. Fireballs erupted from it in a flurry, leaving steam in the air as a sudden rush of wind brought the rain into their path. They did not burn out; they merely left a wall of smoke between Mario and the two as a result. Frost winced and closed her eyes, holding Kyra and waiting for the impact, hoping to protect her.

The impact never came. As she opened her eyes, she saw the visage of Drake staring down at her, panting. Blood dripped out of his mouth, and he pulled the two to their feet. Wordlessly he pointed at Mario through the smoke, his back smoking itself a few stray fireballs bounced around them.

"Frost, I'm going to knock the pillar closest to him down.. Hopefully if the pillar doesn't get him, the collapsing ceiling will." Frost nodded. "Keep him busy!" He growled and leaped out of the way. The smoke cleared and Mario sneered, his mustache curling down. Kyra was in front of Frost, who was slowly standing up again.

"**I see you've learned-a red-a yoshis are immune to fire.**" He trembled with rage.  
"They are?" Kyra whispered in surprise, looking at her dino-self. "Hah! You can't hurt us anymore, then!"  
"**I beg-a to differ.**" Mario leaped high into the air above them. Frost faltered at the height Mario reached, when Mario grabbed his cape and swooped towards them like a hawk towards its prey.

The red Yoshi reacted on pure instinct, grabbing Frost with her mouth and planting her on her back and bounding towards the ruins of the throne. They landed just in time for Mario to impact the ground, shaking it violently enough that the hole in the ceiling widened further, and cracks grew in all the pillars. Kyra and Frost were stunned from the quake, and Kyra stumbled onto her knees.

Mario rose and cocked his arms near his sides as if to leap again.  
"Hey, putz!" roared out Drake's voice from the side. Mario turned in surprise, his cape billowing behind him. "Deal with THIS!" The pillar Drake was yelling behind from suddenly cracked near the bottom and teetered. Mario stepped backwards, looking as it toppled and then fell towards him.  
It slammed into the ground around Mario and broke to pieces, leaving a terrible mess of dust and rubble that was flooded slowly by the rain waters going down the room. Drake himself panted slowly, stepping up on the stump that was once a pillar, looking at his work.  
"Good going, Drake!" Frost called out, slipping off Kyra and stumbling slightly, letting herself rest, falling to a knee. "It's all over for him, now.."  
"**Not-a really.**" Mario rose from the rubble.. And he was covered in a silver, metallic shine. He looked as if he were made out of pure silver metal, his eyes, skin, even clothes. And he was completely undamaged. Flawless.  
"Oh, shit" Kyra breathed, her eyes widening.  
Scaly knuckles clenched together as Drake lost it. "Damnit, why won't you DIE!" Drake roared as he lunged from his stump, his arm straightening, his fist coming straight for Mario's head. Mario never even moved. Drake's fist slammed into his head, and budged him barely a centimeter, not harming him at all. Drake roared in pain and pulled his hand back, smoke seething from his nostrils.  
Mario then turned and grabbed Drake by the wrist before he could so much as sneeze and spun around once with Drake tightly in his grasp. He then released him, throwing him with such force that Drake flew in a spinning tumble across the room parallel to the floor, slamming through the wall and THROUGH the wall out onto the balcony, through the balcony's fence (breaking it apart) and to the floor below, and even then rolled a few times before coming to a stop. Water slowly began to drip onto the lobby's stairs and towards Drake.

The overalled plumber turned back to Kyra and Frost, who were frozen from the show of supreme strength. The ceiling cracked above him, but he made no motion he had heard it. Instead he began to walk forward, slowly. His feet clanked loudly with every step, as if he were many times his own size and weight, the ground under his feet cracking every time his boot hit the floor..

Kyra scampered to her feet and charged straight at Mario despite all the failures of charging at him in the past few minutes, elated she could move on her own and desperate to do -something.- Mario moved a hand up slowly and threw a backhand.

Surprisingly, Kyra managed to duck under it before it hit and bashed her head against Mario's middle. Mario didn't even budge, but looked down.  
"**Annoying-a.**" His voice boomed with a new metallic, not quite robotic, sound. He cocked a fist back- Kyra scampered backwards moments before the fist hit the ground, rumbling and causing a small dent in the floor that cracked the stone for a few feet around. Frost ran forward up to Kyra as Mario continued to stomp towards them.  
"He's slow in that metal body.." Frost murmured. "Kyra, do you think you could outmaneuver him?"  
"Are you joking? I dodged on instinct alone. What makes you think- HEY!" Kyra was suddenly thrown at Mario by Frost. Mario looked up as the Yoshi hit him and fell to the ground. He scoffed and said aloud in the metallic voice,

"**Betraying your own-a friends won't-a save you.**" He lifted his fist and tried to slam it into Kyra, but the red yoshi slid out of the way in time. He kicked; the Yoshi ducked flat under it. He punched, the Yoshi ran around him. He slammed the ground, and Kyra jumped. His frustration shone as Kyra began to get into it, snapping at his face and kicking, head butting him whenever she could. Mario was unharmed but growing increasingly angrier and angrier still, swinging harder and slightly faster.

Kyra howled with glee as she ran circles around the metal Mario. Frost caught her breath near the throne, nursing her wounds as she watched the roundabout. Mario began to curse out loud as he flailed around, trying to catch the Yoshi by pure chance.

And being Mario, he did. By random luck one of his fists caught her on the nose at the exact moment she was pulling away, and the strength of it alone sent her tumbling across the floor in a heap. Frost jerked up, and Mario leaped into the air after Kyra. Despite his weight he managed a tremendous distance and height, and Kyra barely had the sense to roll away as he crashed into the floor.

A crater easily five feet deep resulted, a shockwave of force booming outwards and cracking everything it touched, breaking it into crumbled pieces. The floor emptied into the rooms below, and Mario lunged out of the hole before it deepened into a collapse. Kyra, on the other hand, was sent -through- a pillar and laid motionless but alive on the floor a distance away.

Mario turned back towards Frost, the rain pattering against her face, wettening her hair. She clenched a fist quietly.

"You've hurt my friends." Frost murmured quietly.

"**You work for-a evil overlord and you turned my fiancé against-a me. You've hurt-a or killed numberless Toads. I think you lack righteousness.**" Metal Mario rumbled, his eyes narrowing. He looked up towards the ceiling. "**But thank you for-a pointing out my-a flaw.**" He stomped the ground hard. The ceiling rumbled from the force and cracked, a tremendous piece of it falling to the ground before Mario and Frost, a new waterfall of water pouring in.

Frost narrowed her eyes and leaped into the air. "You'll pay." She stated simply, the wind whipping her wet hair about.

The ceiling slammed into the floor and burst into pieces… and brown bricks erupted and shattered from within the rubble. From the pile of stone and brick a single anomaly poured out- a yellow, star shaped light burst from within, soaring up into the air quietly in an arch. Metal Mario leaped up into the air with his metal hand outstretched, his body poised.

And Frost's feet hit his metal head, landing against his silver skull. He ducked his head on instinct as Frost pushed off his head and leaped into the air, flipping backwards and outreaching her own hand. The light slipped into her wet, extended fingers, and she grasped it.

In that moment a small explosion of golden energy rocketed outwards in a sphere from her body and sent Mario slamming into the ground like a comet, leaving a groove in the floor of the weakening throne room. Bit by bit the ceiling was collapsing in as well, and the explosion tossed most of the remaining ceiling out into the air as it faded, leaving "sparks" of energy to fall to the ground, burning.

The metal plumber got up slowly, a golden-colored bruise on his back where he landed.  
Frost landed quietly a few yards from him, standing on top of rubble. Her eyes had faded to an emerald green, and her muscles had somehow tautened to a frightening degree. Her hair had become a dangerous yellow-gold color, slightly triangulated and floating upwards with the rush of power flowing through her, with a white bang hanging in front of her face. Her clothes were shimmering in color rapidly, and she gripped her fists together slowly.

_"I'm going to end you now." _She stated quietly with a silent force behind her words strong enough to shake the guts of the mightiest warrior. Mario took a step back, then ran forward, his fist cocked back, metal power slamming forward.  
Frost extended her hand faster then he could see, and his fist slammed into her palm.

She didn't so much as move a single cell.

He looked at her for a moment, his steel eyes unable to show emotion, but his face contorting in confusion. Suddenly her leg had slammed him across his cheek, and he flew through the air, spinning rapidly and hitting the ground like a ton of bricks, leaving a crater.  
"**Impossible!**" He threw himself off the ground and turned towards her as she walked towards him. She looked like a terrible, glowing angel of death, rain pattering on her face and dripping off her body. Lightning cracked behind her. He rose both hands, fireballs pouring out of his palms, flying straight at her.

They pattered against her body without damaging her. She walked through the firestorm until she was standing in front of him and slammed her fist into his face before he had time to drop his arms. He flew two feet into a pillar, cracking it in half. It toppled towards Frost.

She caught it in one hand as it landed on her open palm and tossed it aside, walking towards him again.

Invincible. Unstoppable.

Mario got up and grimaced, wiping silver blood off his mouth. He kneeled for a moment, watching her. She flickered out of his view, and then was simply standing there, looking down at him.

"**You can't-a beat me like-a this! Your invincibility is on-a a time limit!**"  
She gave him no response. Her hand slammed into the side of his head.. But this time, he didn't go flying, only rocked to the side from the force, his eyelids narrowed. He threw his own punch and caught her on the side, forcing her to fly backwards from the force alone, if undamaged. She landed and ran back towards him, leaving a single, open line of water from her speed.

He cocked his fist back for a punch when suddenly she vanished from view and reappeared behind him, grabbing his metal shirt and lifting him up. Suddenly he found himself lifted into the air, spun around and around and around and faster still. He was flung straight up into the air high above, breaking through a remnant of the ceiling that remained. He flew so hard and fast that even with his weight, the floating figure below him had quite a bit of time before he fell back down.

Frost opened her hands to the side. In one hand glowed a burning ball of golden energy, and she held it by her side, the ball growing in intensity and size in her hand. The other hand she held over the golden ball of energy, two fingers outstretched from a fist. The fingers glowed with white light at their tips, slowly increasing in brightness. As Mario fell she screamed and suddenly vanished, reappearing above him, thrusting her hands down at his back.

The hand with the golden ball pointed straight at him, with the white fingertips behind the golden ball, "shooting" through them. The ball of energy exploded into a beam of terrible yellow light that slammed into him and sent him body first into the floor, a white loop flowing around and around the beam into it's tip, pummeling into Mario. He crashed right through the floor of the throne room into the basement below, leaving a terrific crater that demolished all the walls of the basement and caused some of the floor to cave in, leaving the throne room a gaping, flooded hole with a mess of rubble.

Frost landed beside him quietly. Mario slowly pulled himself to his feet, trembling.

"**I don't know-a how you did that.. But it'll take-a more then that-a..**" He panted out slowly.  
Frost smirked and lunged towards him. A funny thing happened as she did: She slowed down slowly, her clothes shimmering slower and slower, and her hair and eyes flickering back to normal. As she punched Mario it stopped entirely, her body returning to normal.

Mario was still hit with some force and jerked backwards. A funny thing happened to him, too. As Frost punched him on the cheek, his silver skin faded from where she punched him, flowing over his body and returning him to normal.

The combatants stood where they were for a moment before Mario brought his body forward again, staring at Frost.

"**It's-a over now. You've-a lost.**"

She exhaled slowly, her ferocity abating. With a sudden thud Drake landed beside her, bleeding from his scales but conscious. "Nice light show." He muttered, raising back up to his full height. Kyra dropped on top of Drake's head and fell off to the side, scampering to her feet.

Mario paused at the sight of all three of the combatants up again. Frost grinned and extended her arms to her friends, gesturing at them. "Have we still lost?"

"**Yes.**" He held up his hands, furrowing his brow under his cap. The hands ignited into flame as he clenched his fists, followed by his entire forearm igniting. The flames grew and flickered, lighting up the black depths of the basement.

"So? Drake's shell can handle fire, and Kyra's immune to it." Frost said. "Fire's not going to hurt us anymore."

"Unless he doesn't intend to shoot us.." muttered Drake, blinking as the rain poured into the hole in the floor above from the hole in the ceiling.

"**I intend-a to bring this whole place-a down.**" Mario grinned.

"Oh, shit... Again." Kyra whispered. The ground began to rumble as Mario's arms blazed and charged with fire energy, shaking the ceiling of the basement, what little there was. The three stumbled and wobbled with the quaking. "Get him! Stop him, Drake!" She cried as she hit the floor, unable to keep her footing. Drake leapt at Mario, but a piece of the collapsing ceiling cracked into his head, a Toad body laying atop of it. He went down and flumped against the floor, muttering weakly.

Frost glared at Mario as his entire visage grew dark from the flames. It was over- she was the only one who could not touch his fire and be unharmed. He lifted his arms to the ceiling, and all she could do was watch and dodge falling debris.

And then a baseball bat broke across the back of Mario's skull, wood splintering everywhere and the broken piece of the bat hitting the floor. Mario froze in place as all the fire in his arms and the quaking simply stopped, and fell forward without a word, landing in water and debris.

Hope stood behind him, twirling the broken bat. "Dork." She uttered at him. "Consider this an official break up. Hmph." She tossed the bat over her shoulder and looked at the others, crossing her arms. Drake looked up and pushed the debris off his head; Kyra got up slowly.

"Wow." the yoshi murmured softly. "We'd all be dead right now.. If not for Drake being a moderately evil bastard."  
"Shut up."

The princess spoke., "If Drake hadn't released me you'd all be dead right now." Hope grinned. "Consider the favor repaid. Then again, you did just destroy my castle with your battle." She pressed a finger to her lips and pursed them, giving the impression of pondering.

Frost groaned and fell to her knees, her strength suddenly leaving her. She felt exhausted beyond measure, and struggled to stand on her own two legs. Kyra noticed and moved beside her, allowing Frost to rest against her as Drake picked himself up wearily, his legs wobbling.  
Hope paused and walked over to Drake, placing her hands against his belly and side, helping him up as best as she could. Worry, actual concern, was etched on her face. "Are you alright? You're bleeding all over."  
"I'll live." Drake murmured. "What do you care? I got the wounds breaking your castle down."  
"Just because I'm not a prissy princess-type anymore doesn't mean I've lost the ability to be concerned when others get hurt, you know." She said softly. After a moment she grinned- a cross between wicked and cute- and leaned up, planting a kiss on Drake's cheek. Drake froze in place from the unexpected thing, and looked towards her. Hope merely grinned and patted his belly.

Kyra groaned and rolled her dino eyes at Drake. "Oi. This is so wrong."

Frost shrugged but nodded in agreement.

And then Bowser slammed into the ground behind them on his feet, sending most of them stumbling.

On the roof above, shrouded by heavy, storming rain and wearing black raincoats, two figures stood, watching. Their faces were obscured by darkness of the raincoat's hoods. One of them had its arms folded and looked down at the scene, the other was rubbing the back of its head.

"They succeeded." remarked the Superior's voice from the cross-armed one.

"Without me, at that." muttered Dayle's voice. "Ow."  
"Yes. She recognized you. I expected as much. Didn't expect the others to be so brotherly to her and obey her desire to 'murderize' you, I think they say."

"You thought she'd try to kill me?"  
"No. She didn't even tell the others the truth. Instead, it was Drake's moral indecency that got them through. They'll do well."  
"Shall I prepare the room?"  
"Yes."  
Without another word the rain coated figure with Dayle's voice seemed to simply fade out of existence, like a ghost slowly vanishing from the world. Rain pattered through where she had been standing.

The Superior chuckled wryly to himself. "They'll do well. His work will be completed." He faded out of existence.

Another figure quietly faded in behind where the two had once stood, clad in the same raincoat as they had been, but whereas theirs had been black, his was white. He stroked a chin in the shadow of the hood quietly, and vanished as quietly and as mysteriously as he had came.

"You're still alive? Hah! You three are stronger then I thought." Bowser chuckled heavily and gestured a thick finger at Mario. "You knocked out Mario -and- wrecked the castle open for me. You've served me well."  
"Are you going to kill us now?" Frost asked dryly.

"Why would I do that? I made you three an offer and I mean to keep it. You were supposed to die, but hey." He grinned, revealing sharp teeth. "I'm not going to punish you for succeeding. Magikoop!" He roared, calling for his aide. The robed wizard-koop flew down atop a flying red koopa, wet from the rain.

"Has the invasion finished?" Drake inquired.

"Luigi is gone, Mario is good as dead, Princess Peach is permanently her alter-ego.. I'd say the Mushroom Kingdom is mine." Bowser chuckled. "Magikoop, change these fools back into their original forms."  
"Yes, my liege. NAWALAK!" He shouted, pointing a yellow wand at the three. A blinding explosion lit the area up, consuming the three's forms. Hope took a step back as Drake changed from Koopa back to human, his muscles tensing and untensing rapidly. Frost grew an inch and regained his masculinity; Kyra poofed from Yoshi back into her normal self.

Frost quickly patted himself down, exhaling in relief. Kyra did the same to herself, relieved to finally be human again. Only Drake seemed minorly disappointed at the loss of his transformation, and looked over his muscles with disapproval.  
"Damn. I kind of liked that kind of strength." Drake muttered.

"Personally, I'm just glad to be me again." Kyra said.

"Amen to that." Frost said.

"There. The deal is done. Normally I would -now- kill you, but I have another deal with your.. Superior." At the mention of his name the three snapped their heads up."Yes, I know your Superior. He also told me to deliver a message to you three- he demanded, actually, that I let you three go into the End Pipe before I did."  
"End Pipe?" Kyra inquired.

"Princess, if you'd be so kind." Bowser rumbled.

Hope sighed and rolled her eyes. She snapped her fingers; a small white flash emanated from the sound. After a moment, a section of the wall to the side of the three collapsed into the floor, revealing a black pipe large enough for Bowser himself to fit into easily. "There. The End Pipe is the Kingdom's most sacred treasure, second only to the Green Mushrooms. It's where Mario and Luigi came from; and the rumor is that if one goes into it, they are taken to another world entirely."  
"So you didn't want Mushroom Kingdom just to rule this world, you wanted it so you could rule another world as well." Drake muttered. "Good show."  
"What have we done?" murmured Kyra quietly, looking horror-struck. Frost remained quiet, but rested a hand gently on Kyra's shoulder.  
"Get in the pipe before I kill you all." Bowser growled. "I have.. things.. to do with Mario."

A measure of distaste slid over Drake's face and he shrugged, turning to the pipe. Frost was already at it, hopping in. Kyra paused and followed after Frost. Drake hopped up onto the edge of the pipe, looking in, when a hand rested on his side gently. He turned, looking.

Hope was there, looking up at him. He raised his eyebrow. "You want to come with?"  
"My kingdom is destroyed and my world left for ruin. If I stay here Bowser will take advantage of me, no doubt. I'm coming with you."  
"I thought I was asking."  
"I didn't know I was giving you the option to rebuke me." Hope grinned and slipped over the edge and into the pipe before Drake could react. Drake cursed and hopped into the hole.

Thus did the Mushroom Kingdom cease to exist, and became a mere stronghold in the growing grip of Bowser upon his world.


End file.
